A brave animal lover saved a swan's nest and its eight eggs by wading into a rising lake during heavy flooding.
Allie Short, 47, has been looking after swans at a lake in Milton Keynes for five years.
She had noticed one female swan nesting a brood of eggs as the area experienced heavy rainfall and flooding last week.
Luckily, Allie was checking the eggs when she realised they were in danger of being washed away by rising water levels.
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She waded in with straw from a nearby pet shop to rebuild the nest and save them.
Allie said: "Recently I have been visiting twice a day as I knew one of the swan's had eggs hatching.
"Last Tuesday, the water levels were rising so much because of the rain. If I hadn't of intervened, they would have been washed away for sure."
The young swan got herself into trouble on May 9 during a storm when, within minutes, the water level shot up by over a foot, threatening to wash the eggs away.
Local animal lover Allie, who volunteers for a national swan rescue charity, realised the bird’s plight and rushed to the scene.
On arrival, she phoned her partner, Scott Humphries, 54, for help, and then drove to the nearest pet shop.
She grabbed four bags of straw and returned to the lake, where she then waded in to the water to rebuild the nest to keep it afloat.
Allie, an office worker by day, said: "The weather was terrible and I knew the eggs were at risk.
"After getting there I drove to the pet shop, grabbed the straw and said I'll pay later. I had to move quickly because of the rising water levels.
"On my return, I ran straight into the water with the straw and started putting small amounts in to the nest.
"She was then adjusting the straw and I'd put more in for her so she could repeat the process.
"I went back and forwards from the nest about seven times with different patches of straw to raise the nest up gradually. All while it was pouring it down.
"Finally the rain stopped and the nest had raised over a foot, but the eggs were safely out of the water."
Since the rescue, four of the eggs have hatched, and the swan is a mother to four healthy babies.
And, Allie has become a local hero after Scott took photos of her rebuilding the nest and posted them on Facebook.
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